FFA chairman Frank Lowy has released an open letter to the public after FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s resignation earlier today.
We have decided to publish the full letter.
It makes strong statements from the FFA on the future of FIFA, and is well worth a read for all football fans.
World football might just be at the dawn of a new era.
Sepp Blatter’s resignation should open the door to major reform. I say should because FIFA’s problems are deep-rooted and tangled in a culture that has developed over decades. It will take a united, concerted effort by its football associations to fix the mess.
Australia has tried its best to work within football forums to promote reform. In 2013 we began work on ideas which would allow FIFA to operate with greater transparency and accountability. Many others in world football have been working on similar projects.
Now, at last, it appears there might be new leadership at FIFA willing to listen to these ideas.
I feel that the past week has been a watershed. The series of events leading up to last week’s dramatic developments and the overall scandal surrounding FIFA left Australia with no option but to vote for change.
On a personal level, since 2 December 2010 when Australia received just one vote in its World Cup bid, I have nursed a bitter grievance.
We ran a clean bid. I know that others did not, and I have shared what I know with the authorities, including Michael Garcia who undertook a 2-year investigation into the 2022 World Cup bid.
But did we make mistakes? Yes. Were we naïve? In some cases, yes. Would we do things differently in future? Absolutely.
The FIFA bid guidelines required us to demonstrate a commitment to international football, particularly through projects in developing countries.
We were playing ‘catch up’ in world football terms. Australia had only begun its reform of football in 2003. We entered the Asian Confederation in 2006. When we launched our bid for 2022 we were not familiar with the powerbrokers in world football.
This led us to recruit, on the advice of FIFA’s leadership, consultants who ultimately proved less than effective to say the least.
It led us to work hard to meet the commitment to development projects.
We gave funds, often in conjunction with Ausaid and the Australian Government, to many countries and football associations.
Sometimes these were football related. We paid for under-17 teams from Laos and Malaysia to travel to Australia for tournaments. We worked with Government to fund the “Just Play” program under the Pacific Sports Partnership. We gave to countries that didn’t have a vote in the World Cup bid, such as Vietnam, the Philippines and East Timor.
Others were humanitarian, such as a donation to help repair damaged football infrastructure after the 2009 earthquakes in Chengdu, China and a hospital in South Africa and desks for African school children.
This was effectively the same approach used to win the bid for the 2000 Olympics, and by government to win a seat on the UN Security Council, and was consistent with what every other bidding nation was doing.
The donation which has received most attention was to CONCACAF – the north and central American football association.
This was to fund a feasibility study to develop its Centre of Excellence in Trinidad & Tobago. The man behind the centre was the President of CONCACAF, Jack Warner, whose reputation as a “colourful character” was well known.
He had been on the FIFA Executive Committee since 1983 and was seen as hugely influential to the World Cup vote.
The centre asked Australia to donate $4 million to the project. We compromised and offered $500,000 to fund a preliminary feasibility study.
We sent a team to examine the site. We engaged an external sports facilities consultant to visit the site and prepare a report. We met with CONCACAF officials to agree the terms.
The Chief Executive of the Centre, not Warner, gave us the bank account details for CONCACAF. We paid the money into that account and received confirmation it was received by the bank. It was paid into a CONCACAF account, not Jack Warner’s personal account.
When CONCACAF contacted us to say they were conducting an inquiry into its accounts, we provided information about our donation.
That inquiry – conducted by 2 former judges and a senior accountant – found that Jack Warner had committed fraud and misappropriated the funds – in other words he had stolen the money from CONCACAF. It also found other instances of wrongdoing by Warner over many years.
That initial inquiry by CONCACAF was taken over by FIFA and Michael Garcia, and again Australia provided information to Garcia. We also became aware that law enforcement authorities in the US were looking into the matter.
We asked CONCACAF to give our money back because it wasn’t used for the purpose we intended, and were advised by FIFA to wait until the inquiries were complete. Those inquiries are still ongoing.
We ran a clean bid and we are proud of that but it wasn’t a level playing field and therefore we didn’t win it. I will always be bitterly disappointed about the outcome.
But since 2 December 2010 Australia has been working behind the scenes to bring about change, and we will continue to do that as FIFA embarks on this new era.
Justin Mahon
Guest
Does anybody in this thread have any evidence. Any evidence whatsoever that Frank or anyone at the FFA committed any criminal or civil offence in the conduct of the bid? Any evidence at all? Any evidence that the previous ASC investigation did no find? Any at all? No? Nothing? OK, thanks.
Justin Mahon
Guest
The ASC audited the funds in the immediate aftermath of the Fairfax news allegations and found no impropriety from the FFA. Another FACT known to anybody who stayed informed on this issue at the time - NEARLY THREE YEARS AGO.
Justin Mahon
Guest
And my point above was that we knew this FACT (and all the others in this letter from Frank) nearly three years ago - but this doesn't stop Fairfax (in particular) and the bitters with their campaign.
AR
Guest
In other words...deflect deflect "yeah well what about the AFL..??!!" (shakes head)
Ian
Guest
I'm amazed at the number of people who don't read an article and still claim the money was sent to Warner's personal bank account when it was sent to a CONCACAF bank account.
cm
Guest
"We have sacked those responsible for this. But what they are responsible for, never occurred."
Jarijari
Guest
"When we launched our bid for 2022 we were not familiar with the powerbrokers in world football. This led us to recruit, on the advice of FIFA’s leadership, consultants who ultimately proved less than effective to say the least." So Frank Lowy, the man who built Westfield into one of Australia's biggest companies over decades and was the nation's richest person at one stage, didn't know the people who ran the game. Les Murray, who was on FIFA's ethics committee, obviously did know the sport's powerbrokers. Les, who left SBS in a parlous financial state from gross overspending on rights and coverage of football. Naïve, give us break Frank, time for you to go too.
Jarijari
Guest
Anyone with half a brain can see why an Australian World Cup bid is pointless. The latest possible kick-off time is 9pm -- midday GMT, 1pm in parts of Europe. And that's it, done for the day, putting a massive hole in the broadcast rights value. Yes, they did stage one in South Korea and Japan, but that decision was made 19 years ago, the Cup had to go to Asia at some stage, and the only other bid was from Mexico.
Common Sense
Roar Rookie
"We can now conclusively say that we probably did something wrong but we can't prove it. Therefore we are not guilty!"
Funktapuss
Guest
Yep, it was very dodgy. We should never have bothered. Will be interesting to see if this destroys Lowy's legacy.
Funktapuss
Guest
Word is UEFA is looking to create a championship for 2018. Who will play in the FIFA Cup? Besides Argentine and Brazil, the best sides are all in Europe. Time to pull the rug from FIFA's feet. No major soccer nations playing the tv and sponsor income would evaporate.
Anto
Guest
Ran a clean bid, my arse, Frank! What the hell happened to our $45m? And what in the hell did you think it was for, if not bribes? You disingenuous piece of crap!
nickoldschool
Guest
Yep same here. The day they want it and are serious about it they will be near impossible to beat. Coca cola and Nike are already salivating.
woodo
Guest
Next Asian WC will be China for sure. Id bet a house on it if i owned one.
cm
Guest
Apologies mf I am not very good at this. If you can instruct me in the finer detaild i would greatly appreciate it. A benevolent fund of your choice will appreciate my appreciation I'm sure...
nickoldschool
Guest
WB, I think oz bid even if it had been a good one, may have been a tad early. The WC was in Asia in 2002, europe in 2006, Africa in 2010, South America in 2014 so Oz now being part of Asia I think many ppl thought it was too early to go back to Asia /Oceania in 2018/22. Russia being Russia it offers something different, same with a Middle East option. For now and the next few decades, Japan, SK and Oz are the only possibilities in Asia so I think it was too ambitious to want the WC back here that early. Same with Africa, they may have to wait for a while and who could really organise a WC outside of South Africa anyway? North America may want a shot sooner rather than later, most euro countries could host a cup alone or with a neighbour. I hope Oz gets one in my lifetime but I think 2030/40 is probably more realistic. That's if China waits their turn and all other Asian nations support our application.
Realfootball
Guest
Neither WC will be stripped. Geopolitics precludes it. Water under the bridge. New president, clean up FIFA, move on.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
No, that's not the way it transpired. The money was not paid into his private account. The FFA did its due diligence. They looked the FIFA Exec Committee member square in the eyes and asked a direct question: will this money end up where it is meant to end up? The answer was an emphatic yes. They then asked: will this money deliver what we are hoping it will deliver? The answer was an emphatic yes. They were then given a phone number in CONCACAF and a certain Ms Warner gave the bank account details to which the money could be transferred. There was zero reason why someone like Lowy could ever have suspected that the money was destined to be pilfered by the very man he had looked square in the eye.
The artist formerly known as Punter
Guest
England didn't bid for 2022, but do agree with your sentiment in regards to not hosting it in 50 years. The US, who started the dominoes to fall may also have a big say in the 2022 WC.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
cm Personally, I would not pay that much money into an account named: J. Warner. On the other hand, I would be more willing to hand over the money if the account carried a name like Warner Bros Benevolent Fund. I would be mighty peeved if it transpired that the bank account was not what it was purported to be.